Colorado's Office Furniture Experts Who Actually Show Up
Colorado's Office Furniture Experts Who Actually Show Up
Colorado's Office Furniture Experts Who Actually Show Up
Based in Denver and Colorado Springs, serving businesses throughout Colorado with space planning, office furniture, delivery and professional installation.
Office Furniture Terms Explained: What Everything Is Called Now
By Gary Schwankl, Founder, Office Furniture EZ | Last updated: October 2026
I’ve been in the office furniture business for more than 20 years, and I’ll tell you, the vocabulary has changed more in the last few years than in the twenty before that. Customers used to call and ask for “a desk and a conference table.” Now they ask about touchdown spaces, huddle areas, and neighborhoods – and half the time they’re not sure if they’re using the terms right. That’s fine. Nobody handed out a dictionary.
So here’s one. This is a plain-English guide to what people are calling things now, along with the furniture that goes with each space. Bookmark it, share it with your team, and contact our team if you want to talk through any of it.
How People Work Now
Hybrid Workplace
An office used by team members who split their time between working remotely and coming into the building. Since occupancy varies day to day, hybrid offices lean heavily on flexible workstations and seating that accommodate whoever shows up.
Browse products: Open Office Desks
Hot Desking
(Also called free address, desk sharing, flex seating, or on-demand seating)
A setup where no individual employee “owns” a desk. Instead, people choose an available workstation when they arrive. Some organizations add a reservation layer, allowing employees to reserve desks in advance—a process often called hoteling. Hot desking works best when workstations are uniform and easily adjustable.
Browse products: Sit-Stand Desks
Activity-Based Working (ABW)
An office strategy where, instead of assigning one desk for all daily tasks, the office provides specialized zones for different activities: focused heads-down work, phone calls, collaborative projects, and breaks. Employees migrate to the environment that best fits their immediate work.
Browse products: Privacy Panels | High-Top Tables & Bistro Seating
Work Areas
Benching
(Also called a bench desk system)
Long, shared work surfaces where people sit side by side without tall partitions separating them. It creates an open, efficient footprint that is particularly effective for collaborative teams.
Browse products: Bench Workstations & Open Office Desks
Neighborhood
A dedicated cluster of workstations and adjacent shared space assigned to a specific department or project team. It allows group members to sit near their immediate collaborators without requiring rigid, permanently assigned individual seating.
Browse products: Team Workstations & Open Office Desks
Focus Zone
(Also called a quiet zone)
A section of the office set aside specifically for uninterrupted, heads-down work. Installing sound-absorbing acoustic screens and desktop privacy dividers helps control noise pollution in open floor plans.
Browse products: Acoustic & Privacy Panels
Sit-Stand Desk
(Also called a height-adjustable desk or electric standing desk)
A desk engineered with height-adjustable mechanisms so users can effortlessly transition between sitting and standing throughout the workday to promote movement and ergonomics.
Browse products: Height-Adjustable Sit-Stand Desks
Privacy Panels
(Also called privacy screens or acoustic screens)
Desktop or freestanding dividers designed to give employees visual privacy and sound dampening in open-plan environments.
Browse products: Desk Privacy Screens
Collaboration and Meeting Spaces
Touchdown Table
(Also called a touchdown station or drop-in desk)
A small, informal work surface intended for short-duration tasks—such as checking emails or reviewing notes between meetings—without occupying a full dedicated workstation.
Browse products: High-Top Touchdown Tables
Huddle Area
(Also called a huddle space)
A compact, informal meeting spot designed for two to six people to collaborate quickly without needing to reserve a formal conference room.
Browse products: High-Top Tables & Collaboration Seating
Collaboration Station
A specialized work table or station configured for immediate group brainstorming, typically equipped with interactive or dry-erase surfaces.
Browse products: Desks with Whiteboard Credenzas
Training Room
A dedicated learning space furnished with modular, easily reconfigurable tables arranged in classroom rows, U-shapes, or collaborative pods to support workshops and onboarding.
Browse products: Training & Multi-Purpose Tables
Innovation Lab
(Also called a maker space or project room)
A flexible environment tailored for creative brainstorming, physical prototyping, and intensive team sessions. Furniture in these rooms is typically mobile, modular, and writable.
Explore solutions: Contact us for custom project room layouts
Business Center
A central utility area equipped with shared workplace essentials, such as printing facilities, work surfaces, storage, and supplies for quick administrative tasks.
Explore solutions: Request a custom storage & layout quote
Welcoming and Social Spaces
Reception Area
The front entry of your office that serves as the initial touchpoint for clients and guests, setting the aesthetic tone for the entire organization.
Browse products: Reception Desks & Waiting Area Seating
Lounge Seating
(Also called soft seating)
Upholstered armchairs, modular sofas, and casual seating designed for relaxed conversations, quick breaks, or informal client discussions.
Browse products: Lounge & Soft Seating
Coworking Café
(Also called a work café or office café)
A hybrid space blending breakroom elements with workspace amenities, allowing employees to eat, socialize, or work on laptops in a relaxed dining setting.
Browse products: Bistro & High-Top Tables | Café & Lounge Seating
Third Place
Borrowed from sociology, a “third place” in an office context is a casual internal destination that isn’t an assigned desk and isn’t a formal conference room. It gives staff an alternative environment to change scenery or connect informally.
Browse products: Lounge & Breakout Furniture
Recharge Area
(Also called a wellness room, quiet room, or mother’s room)
A secluded space designed for employees to step away, destress, attend to personal needs, or take private personal calls.
Explore solutions: Speak with our space planning team
Resimercial Design
A design philosophy that combines residential warmth, textures, and comfort with commercial-grade durability. It is most frequently implemented in reception areas, lounges, and executive spaces.
Browse products: Resimercial Reception & Lounge Lines
Privacy and Storage
Phone Booth
(Also called a focus pod or privacy pod)
A compact, sound-dampening enclosed pod designed for private phone calls, video conferences, or concentrated individual work in open offices.
Custom orders: While these aren’t always featured in our standard online catalog, we source and install custom phone pods regularly—ask our team for current options and lead times.
Lockers
Dedicated, secure storage units frequently used in hot-desking setups where employees require personal storage because they do not have assigned desks.
Custom orders: We offer a variety of modular locker configurations tailored to your office footprint—contact us for options and quotes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What is a touchdown table?
A: A touchdown table is a small, accessible work surface used for short, drop-in tasks like checking email between meetings without occupying a dedicated desk.
Q: What is the difference between a huddle area and a collaboration station?
A: A huddle area is an informal group gathering space meant for small team discussions. A collaboration station is an active work surface configured with shared writing boards or media integration for immediate group problem-solving.
Q: What is activity-based working (ABW)?
A: Activity-based working is an office design approach where an office provides multiple distinct zones (focus, collaboration, social, private) so employees can choose where to work based on the task at hand.
Q: What is a neighborhood in an office layout?
A: A neighborhood is a dedicated zone assigned to a specific department or team containing workstations and shared collaboration tools, keeping collaborators close together without requiring fixed seating assignments.
Q: What is the difference between hot desking and hoteling?
A: Hot desking operates on a first-come, first-served basis where employees grab any open desk upon arrival. Hoteling requires employees to reserve their specific workstation or desk in advance using booking software.
Every Workplace Is Different
Here’s what more than 20 years in this business has taught me: no two offices are alike. A tech company in the Denver Tech Center wants something very different from a medical practice in Colorado Springs, and both are different from a growing nonprofit in between. Terms like these are useful, but they’re only a starting point.
That’s where we come in. We’ll listen to what you’re trying to build, then help you bring it to life with the right space layout and furniture. Because we’ve worked with so many businesses across the region, we can share what we’ve seen work—and what hasn’t—so you can save time, avoid costly mistakes, and borrow a few proven ideas.
If you’re planning a new space, refreshing an existing facility, or just trying to figure out what to call the furniture you need, stop by our Denver Showroom or Colorado Springs Showroom, or contact us today. We’d be glad to walk through it with you.
Founder, Office Furniture EZ
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